Braveheart
by BigBadWolfTardis
Summary: Swept up in the Dark Curse with everyone else, Simba has forgotten his former fairy tale life as Prince Charming's adoptive brother, and spends twenty-eight years living as Alex Lyons, Storybrooke's veterinarian. But when the Saviour finally arrives in town, it spells an end to Alex's misery, as the final battle finally begins. An AU rewrite of seasons 1 - 6 to include new stories.


**Hello everyone! So the day is finally upon us... the last ever episode of Once Upon A Time. I am SO upset that it won't be coming back, which in turn is what led me to starting this story today : ) **I've been planning this story for _months_ , and wanting to do an OC Once Upon A Time story for even longer, so today felt like the right day to start this - consider it my way of marking the final episode airing and the passing of a really great show : )****

 **Anyway, without further ado - Welcome to Braveheart : )**

 **Now** **I want to give everyone fair warning. Disregard EVERYTHING you know about the canon timeline before the original Dark Curse. This story will NOT be sticking those though events at all ; ) Some events will remain, but lots will be different. Some characters killed prior to the curse will be alive in my story, some non-cursed characters will be cursed, and even existing characters' backstories will be vastly different ; )**

 ** **Seriously, I have so many changes in mind you will not believe it, so hopefully it will make for a good story. Also, I'll only be doing the Storybrooke events in this story, but once I have a few chapters up, I plan to write a prequel and update both stories at the same time, showing the pre-curse timeline as well. I just think it'll be less confusing to keep the two time-eras in separate stories.****

 **Also, just because I want to give some readers the chance to back out now, one of the main relationships in this story will be slash - i.e, a gay relationship between two male characters, as you'll see in this prologue. It's central to this story, **so if that's not your cup of tea, you've been given a fair warning ; )****

 **Finally, please remember that Once Upon A Time and Disney are not owned by me.**

 **I hope you enjoy this story and this chapter : )**

* * *

 **Braveheart**

* * *

 **The Dark Curse**

* * *

Simba stood on a balcony in Snow White's castle, looking out over the land, watching the Evil Queen's Dark Curse cover the Enchanted Forest. There was no denying the unadulterated fear that was burning away in Simba's eyes as he watched the alien mist that was the curse engulf anything and _everything_ that stood in its path.

A sense of hopelessness bubbled away in the blonde man's stomach as he watched the ascending smoke, and tears of agonising pain welled up in his sparkling green eyes.

There was a tiny part of Simba that still couldn't quite believe that the Evil Queen had _actually_ followed through with her threat and done it.

Undoing a world's worth of people's happy endings was a pretty monumental threat after all, practically impossible to achieve in fact. But alas, the proof of the queen's success was right in front of him, tearing apart the entire realm as the curse cascaded across the land.

Simba tried to contain it, knowing it wouldn't help the current situation at all, but he simply couldn't help but allow a small sob of utter despair to slip his lips.

Almost as if sensing the man's anguish, a second man known throughout the land simply as the Huntsman stepped up to his side, and gently curled his fingers around Simba's hand, until their fingers were entwined.

"Don't cry, my love" the Huntsman whispered, his heart aching at the devastation written all over Simba's face, "You know what the prophecy foretells. The curse won't last indefinitely".

Simba, his eyes now brimming with tears, tore his gaze away from the purple clouds of the curse and looked up at the handsome face of his true love. His breath caught in his throat for a moment.

Even after all this time, Simba still couldn't quite believe just how incredibly _beautiful_ his true love really was.

The blonde man quickly shook off the thought. It hardly mattered now.

"But the curse won't break until after her _twenty-eighth_ birthday..." Simba choked out, unable to help but openly cry now.

It wasn't as though he had nothing to cry about, after all.

Simba, like everyone else that fell victim to this particular curse, was about to be ripped away to another world where he would be trapped in a bizarre prison in a new land. A land without magic. And in this new land, in their prison, time would stand still, and everyone would forget who they really were.

They would be trapped there as prisoners, _slaves_ to the Evil Queen and any and all of her darkest desires. That was to be their punishment, devised by the queen's twisted mind and corrupted soul.

Simba just knew in his heart that it would _eternal hell_ for all of them.

But the worst part, even worse than forgetting who he really was, the _worst_ part was forgetting all the people he loved, including the man that had stole his heart and made it his own. The man he had known since childhood, and had stood with him throughout every battle and fight, every trial and tribulation.

The man that stood by his side even now.

Just the thought of losing him for all those years was enough to violently crush the air from Simba's lungs in a wave of _shattering_ despair.

"I... I don't want to be apart from you for that long" Simba sobbed out, shaking as the strongest sense of fear he'd ever felt in his life ravaged through his body like a wildfire, "I don't want to forget about you".

The Huntsman swallowed hard, feeling the same agonising pain.

"Shush" he gently soothed his frightened lover, "I know... I know, love. I don't want to be without you either. But we both know it can't be helped now".

More heartbroken tears trickled down Simba's cheeks.

The Huntsman felt a dejected pang in his heart since he knew that his words would do little to comfort his true love at this point, so he gently cupped the blonde man's face with his free hand and used his thumb to tenderly wipe the tears away. He couldn't deny that there was tears in his own eyes too however, but right now he didn't care.

His true love was much more important.

"Do not give up, my love" the Huntsman whispered, resting his forehead gently against Simba's, "Do not lose the hope that you gave to me, all those years ago. I still have hope. Hope that one day we'll find our way back to each other again".

Simba sniffled, and a few more tears fell.

"Do... do you really think so?" the blonde couldn't help but ask.

"I _know_ so" the Hunstman nodded assuringly at the shorter man, eyes burning with the strongest type of love there was, "Love is the most powerful magic of all, and our love is no different. I know that the queen's tainted evil isn't strong enough to keep us apart for ever".

Simba prayed with every fibre of his being that his Huntsman was right.

Looking out over the land again, the two men saw that the Dark Curse was almost upon them now. It had already reached the outer wall of Snow White's castle, and was quickly beginning to consume it and everyone within.

"I... I love you" Simba whispered brokenly, knowing this would be his last chance to say it for a painfully long time.

The Huntsman smiled, a tearful smile, as he cupped Simba's cheek with his hand again and leaned down to his level. Their lips met in a tender but also desperate kiss, for both of them knew the terrible truth.

It would be the last time they kissed in a _very_ long time.

"I love you too" the Huntsman whispered back as they reluctantly broke apart.

The smoke had almost reached them now. It would be a matter of seconds before both of them were taken by the curse.

Holding each other in a tight embrace, neither wanting to let go of the other until the curse ripped them apart, the two men just held each other lovingly as the purple smoke engulfed them.

The Dark Curse invaded their minds...

And Simba and the Huntsman forgot themselves and each other entirely.

* * *

BLAR BLAR BLAR BLAR

"Waaaaaah!" Alex Lyons' bright green eyes snapped open.

His whole body jerked wildly in his bed, and with a yelp of surprise, he fell out of the bed completely. He hit the floor with a dull thud, and let out a low grown of pain.

He glowered up at the alarm clock, which was still chiming, almost like it was laughing at him.

"Fall out of bed again?" an amused voice called from the next room.

Alex rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Yeah… sorry!" he called back.

"Are you hurt?" his roommate asked loudly, tone still amused.

Alex sighed in dismay. Only his butt and his pride had been dented. No change there then.

"No" Alex grunted in response.

"Okay!" his roommate called back cheerfully, too used to Alex's insane morning routine to even bat an eyelid at it anymore.

Alex sighed forlornly, and ran a hand through his golden blonde hair. He groaned and cracked his muscles, stretching his arms as he yawned like a cat. He quickly turned off the shrill buzz of his alarm clock.

Finally, after stretching for a few more moments, the almost naked man - for he was only in his boxers - pulled a plain T-shirt over his head as he headed to the door.

It was time to get ready for the day ahead.

Another perfectly predictable, boring, _tedious_ day in Storybrooke. And Alex would do this every morning after, for twenty-eight heartbreakingly long years.

Until the day that _she_ would arrive...

* * *

 **And there's the prologue : )**

 **Yep, the 'OC' **that this story will focus around is Simba from The Lion King, but with a VASTLY different backstory, written with a Once Upon A Time twist ; ) I know that Simba isn't an OC as such since I didn't make him up, but... well, it's a grey area with Once Upon A Time. I'll just leave it to the reader's discretion to know what doesn't belong to me. But Simba won't be the only 'OC' to appear in this story, make no mistake : )****

 ** ** ** **I seriously cannot wait to get further into this story since I plan on changing things up quite a lot. I honestly think this is going to be the most fun I've had with a project in a _very_ long time ; ) ********

********Also, future chapters will be longer than this one, however I just wanted to do a short prologue to set the stage before the real story begins ; )********

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this prologue, and will stick with this story for the rest of the ride.**

 **Until the next time, keep on reading : )**


End file.
